Tuesday, January 19, 2010

perambulate \puh-RAM-byuh-layt\, intransitive verb:

1. To walk about; to roam; to stroll; as, "he perambulated in the park."

transitive verb:

1. To walk through or over.
2. To travel over for the purpose of surveying or inspecting.

Perambulate comes from Latin per-, "through" + ambulare, "to walk." The noun form is perambulation.

text-hole

• Someone who texts on their cellphone in really inappropriate places, like movie theatres, concerts, plays, or during sex.

1. The movie was great, except right during the best scene, this text-hole in front of me lit up his phone and started texting away.

2. We were humping away, and she started texting her friend. She was a certified text-hole.

Trivia
What university did The Muppet Show mad scientist Dr. Bunsen Honeydew attend?

• Carnegie-Melonhead.

History

• neon sign: was patented by French engineer/chemist Georges Claude; early neon signs were called "liquid fire" (1915)
• Indira Gandhi: daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru became India's first and so far only female prime minister (1966)
• Apple Lisa: the first Apple with a GUI and a mouse was announced; speedy (5 MHz) and robust (512 KiB RAM), it cost nearly $10,000 (1983)

Berfdays, yo!

• James Watt (1736-1819): scientist and inventor of an improved steam engine; inventor Henry Bessemer(1813-1898) shared this birth date
• Robert E. Lee (1807-1870): Confederate commander in the Civil War
• Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849): writer of macabre short stories; plus, authors Alexander Woollcott (1887-1943) and Patricia Highsmith (1921-1995)
• Paul Cézanne (1839-1906): painter
• Ólafur Thors (1892-1964): PM of Iceland
• Jean Stapleton (87): Edith Bunker on All in the Family; also, actors Fritz Weaver (84), Tippi Hedren (80?), Shelley Fabares (66), Katey Sagal (56), Shawn Wayans (40), Drea de Matteo (38) and Frank Caliendo (36)
• Dolly Parton (64): country music writer/ singer; also, Phil Everly (71) and Janis Joplin (1943-1970)
• Paula Deen (63): TV chef